vCenter Appliance without DHCP server

If you don’t have an active DHCP server, and/or your newly installed vCenter Server Appliance isn’t acquiring an IP address upon startup, you may need to use VI to statically assign an IP configuration.

1) Login into the console as root. The default password is vmware.

2) Type the following command to navigate to the interface configuration file:

vi /etc/sysconfig/networking/devices/ifcfg-eth0

3) You’ll now be viewing the interface configuration file. You can use the arrow keys to navigate to the different lines of the config. Firstly, you’ll want to make sure BOOTPROTO=static, and STARTMODE=auto. Lastly, you’ll want to add the following 5 lines:

4) Now that you’re finished editing the NIC config, press ESC, press shift+; and then type wq and press Enter. It should say that ifcfg-eth0 has been written.

5) Type service network restart

6) You should now be able to see the vCenter login page via https://vCenter_IP_ADDRESS:5480. Keep in mind that there is no default gateway on the appliance, so you will only be able to access the webpage from a box on the local subnet. Login to the web interface and assign a default gateway from there.